Bloodlines Diabolik Lovers Shu x OC
by thewriterspen
Summary: 18 year-old Clary Komori and her younger sister, Yui, are about to have their lives changed for forever. Upon arriving at the Sakamaki mansion, they start to uncover the dark secrets of their pasts, and the truth is shocking. Soon enough, Clary is cast into a chaotic world of sadistic vamps, danger, betrayl, romance and sin as she struggles to hold onto her faith and keep Yui safe.
1. First Impressions

After driving for about an hour, Yui and I finally stood at the front gates of the incredibly large gothic-looking mansion that was to be our new home. The taxi behind us pulled  
out without a single word, leaving us alone.  
"This is really where we're going to stay?" Yui breathed, though I barely heard her over my music. I pulled the ear buds out and switched my iPod off, wrapping the cord around the device and shoving it into my back pocket. It would be rude to meet our host family with such distractions on.  
"I guess," I sighed heavily. The cool air smelled of something sweet, like flowers. Roses, maybe. And something musty too, like ozone. I could smell the storm coming on the wind.  
Beyond the gate was a large and empty front yard, the only thing to decorate it was a lone water fountain right in the center. Beyond that was the mansion, as tall and as wide as a boarding school. The pointed roofs and multiple chimneys pierced the overcast sky.  
It may have been the way the house looked; like something you would see in a supernatural horror movie – those Victorian mansions that were bound to have a few ghosts haunting it – or the fact that every window was dark, giving the manor an abandoned look, especially with how one wall was completely covered in ivy. Whatever it was, I felt chills race down my spine just looking at it. I was already getting bad vibes. Was it too late to call the taxi back?  
"Why isn't there anyone out here to greet us?" Yui asked as she placed a hand on one of the bars of the wrought iron gate. Immediately, it swung open slightly with a creak. She blinked at me.  
"Good question," I nodded. Why would no one be here to welcome us? Didn't they know we were coming today? "Maybe no one is home?" It certainly didn't look like anyone was, or had been for the last few decades. The only signs that the house _was_ inhabited were the neatly trimmed bushes that lined the perimeter, the cut grass, and the running fountain. If it hadn't been for those things, I definitely would've called the cab back.  
Yui pushed the gate open further, gripped the handle on her luggage and started towards the mansion. I bit my lip and followed her, wheeling my own suitcase behind me.  
Passing by the fountain, I could now clearly see it was made of stone and included three tiers. A statue of a gargoyle sat at the top. Of course it _had_ to be a gargoyle.  
As Yui and I continued toward the house, the first drops of rain splashed on my face. Not a second later, a flash of lightning like a whip across the sky split the clouds open, and rain poured down fast as the sky roared with thunder.  
Simultaneously, Yui and I hurried towards the house and took shelter on the front steps, where there was a roof over our heads. Already, my hair and clothes were damp.  
I faced the grand wooden double-doors that loomed over me, and hesitated before lifting the knocker and knocking three times.  
Thirty seconds later and there was still no answer.  
"Excuse me!" Yui shouted at the door. I wanted to scold her, since this was a giant house and it could take someone more than thirty seconds to get to the door. But I was feeling impatient myself as the winds picked up speed and chilled my already wet body to the bone.  
I reached for one of the brass handles with every intention of attempting to let myself in, but before I could touch it, the door swung open a crack, just like what had happened with the gate. I quietly gasped and turned to look at Yui. Her sherbet pink eyes were wide with a mix of surprise and anxiousness.  
Did these people just forget to lock their doors or something? Restless now, I grabbed my suitcase and pushed my way inside.  
The mansion was just as creepy on the inside as it was on the outside. And cold. The room I stepped into was more of a hallway, it was dim and lined with large marble pillars attached to the marble floors. Beneath me was a red carpet that continued straight across and up the flight of stairs. At the top of that staircase, I could make out more stairs branching off to the left and right, leading further into the mansion.  
But the layout was just the second thing I noticed, because the first thing I noticed was that there still wasn't anyone in sight.  
Yui stood beside me as she glanced around. The door closed behind us.  
"Hello?" I called out. My voice echoed throughout the room. "Anyone home?"  
"This is unusual," Yui commented. We started down the hallway together, quietly toting our bags along. The end of the hall expanded into a larger room illuminated by an elegant crystal chandelier suspended above our heads.  
I paused at the foot of the first staircase and looked around. There was no way to know which way to go. Up the stairs? What about the halls to our left and right? There even rooms on this floor behind the staircase, but they were too dark to draw my interest.  
"Is anyone here?" Yui called out. Outside, the thunder replied to her with a low rumble. Lightning flared through the window located at the end of the hall on my right. But other than that, there was no sign of anyone.  
"Maybe we should split up," I suggested half-jokingly.  
"Isn't that how people die in horror movies?" Yui asked, causing me to chuckle.  
"Usually. But I'm serious. _Someone_ has to be home, right?"  
"O-okay," Yui hesitated. I didn't like the idea of leaving her alone either, but what else were we going to do? This house was too big to explore together. And we couldn't just wait in here for who-knew-how-long until someone found us.  
"I'll take the left wing," I nodded at her as I strayed from her side, leaving my suitcase behind. She nodded back at me and turned to face the right.  
I followed the red carpet down the left hall, wandering about aimlessly. Soon enough, I was no longer within range of Yui. Remaining calm, I glanced into every room I passed.  
Until one caught my eye and I entered. It was a strange room lined with bookcases as tall as the ceiling, but there were no books on them. Instead, there were random knick-knacks and odd trinkets placed on the shelves.  
I carefully glanced at each one as I slowly moved about the room. Perhaps the one that caught my attention the most was a small desk clock that quietly ticked. The little thing looked simple at first glance, but upon further inspection I could see beautiful carvings in the wood that gave the clock some character. I could easily imagine it sitting on the mantle of a fireplace.  
"Can I help you?" A voice suddenly demanded. I jumped away from the clock and whirled around to face a tall man dressed in a dark suit standing in the doorway.  
I held a hand to my chest as if to help calm my racing heart. "Jesus Christ," I gasped. "I didn't hear you approach. You scared me."  
The man remained silent as he stared at me with a hard expression. His hair was longish and an odd gray-black, and his eyes were a pinkish-red that glittered mysteriously behind his glasses.  
"Sorry," I shook my head shamefully as I just realized my situation. "This is your house. I..I'm Clary." The man said nothing, just continued to stare at me. Maybe he didn't recognize my nickname. "Uh...Clarisse Komori is my full name…my sister Yui and I were sent here to live with you?"  
"Live with us?" He repeated. Just as I was about to explain, I heard someone scream –  
"Stop! What are you _doing?!_ " the voice shouted. The sudden sound of a desperate scream in this strange house was so jarring that it took me a second to realize it was Yui who was screaming.  
With my heart already racing at a thousand miles per second, I quickly pushed past the mysterious man and sprinted down the halls.  
"Yui!" I shouted as I rapidly approached the main room where we split up. Just up ahead, in the right wing of the hall, I could see a red-haired man pinning Yui to a couch as he hovered over her.  
"Clary!" Yui cried.  
"What the hell are you doing?!" I gushed, not able to believe what I was seeing. "Get off of her!" I was just about to shove him off Yui when –  
"Ayato," a familiar voice calmly but sternly addressed from behind me. I turned around to see the man from the other room standing there. "What's all this commotion?"  
"H-how did you get here so fast?" I stared at him. As a former star sprinter on my old track team, there was just no way he could have gotten here seconds after me and not even have a strand of hair out of place.  
The man ignored me. "Need I remind you this is our Entrance Hall? We use this area strictly to receive our guests." He scolded the red-haired one with his arms crossed. "I must ask you to take your activities to your private room."  
"Excuse me?" I gaped at him. Did he not see that my sister was clearly in distress? "Sorry, but there's no ' _activities'_ going on here." I stepped forward and took Yui by the wrist and pulled her off the couch, away from the red-haired boy. She clung to me tightly.  
"Oh whatever," the red head scoffed. "You're such a buzzkill, Reiji. Who are these girls, anyway?"  
"I'm Clary Komori. This is my sister, Yui. Our father told us we were supposed to live here but we don't know why."  
"Why wasn't I told about this?" the gray-haired one, who the other called Reiji, demanded. "Ayato, explain it to me at once."  
"Huh? How would I know anything about it? This is news to me too." He looked at Yui, who was still gripping my arm. "You never told me you were moving in with us, Pancake."  
"That's because you attacked me out of nowhere!" Yui retorted, stepping away from me as she angrily faced him. "I didn't have a chance to tell you anything."  
"What was that about, anyway?" I demanded. "Are you mental? Do you always attack people you've just met?"  
Ayato scoffed, which just angered me further. I was about to snap at him, when Yui interjected.  
"Hold on. You said 'Pancake'…were you talking about me?" She asked. I blinked at her. Of all the things to ask these people, she asks _that?_ And why was there a faint blush on her cheeks?  
"Of course I was, stupid. Seriously. If you haven't noticed, you're as flat as a pancake. _God_ ," Ayato huffed. His gaze flickered to me, and his eyes seemed to glow green like a predator in the darkness. "But _she_ isn't. Too bad for you, Pancake. Looks like your sister got all the good genes."  
Yui glared at him. And I was even angrier than before.  
"Seriously, what's _wrong_ with you?" I snapped. "First you attack my sister then you act like it was nothing?" I turned to the other one, Reiji, for help. "Does he have some sort of disorder that we should be aware of or something?"  
" _Disorder_ ," Ayato scoffed. "Give me a break."  
"This really is rather strange," Reiji said before I could say something else. "I don't understand why I wasn't informed of your arrival."  
Was this guy not listening to me at all? Why was he not doing anything about the situation? This other person had just attacked Yui…why wasn't he the least bit worried? Shouldn't he be calling the cops or something?!  
"Excuse me," Yui said politely. "But who are you?"  
"I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this here," Reiji said. "Please, follow me. See that their luggage is taken care of." He turned and started walking away.  
Just as I was about to ask who he was talking to, I turned around to see an old man in a butler's suit already holding our suitcases. I stared at him in shock as he bowed to me and silently backed away into the darkness of the house. _Where did he even come from?!_  
The sound of Reiji's footsteps grew fainter the further away he walked, leaving us alone with the other one. I turned back around to see him staring at Yui with a pouty glare. I quickly took Yui's hand and pulled her along with me as I started after Reiji, wondering to God what was going to happen next.

* * *

Hi everyone! I'm new to this website and this is the first story I've posted on here so that's pretty exciting :) I usually post my fics onto Quotev but I decided to expand my horizons a little and post on here aha  
I hope you're enjoying my DiaLovers fic so far, as there is a lot more to come. I'm so in love with the anime and its characters and I'm going to put a lot of time and effort into this story! I sincerely hope you decide to stick with it, even if Shu isn't your favorite because Clary will share a few moments with some of the other brothers as well haha  
And I know there isnt a lot of info about Clary right now (in regards to her appearances, more of her spunky personality, her past, etc.) but that is because I want to unfold the story in a novel-like way from her POV first. Once I feel like I've revealed all there is to know about her, I'll post her biography. Then I'll be able to focus more on developing the relationships with the boys - Shu in particular - which is why we're all here, right? XD

Anyway, since I am new here, I would greatly appriciate your thoughts and opinions! Please let me know how I'm doing :)

And here's the link to the same story on my Quotev ~ story/7780764/Bloodlines-Diabolik-Lovers

I hope to see you in the next chapter :)


	2. The Sakamaki Brothers

I sat beside Yui on one of the fancy, blue-cushioned sofas of what appeared to be the living room. The red-haired guy from earlier, Ayato, was seated in a separate chair beside us. He was still staring at Yui, I could see it out of the corner of my eye. This guy was such a freak. I'd have to be sure that Yui stayed far away from him at all times.

"Now," Reiji began as he stood before us. "For the sake of formality, let's begin. Why don't you start by telling us about yourselves and how you came to enter this house?"

"As I said before," I started. "I'm Clary Komori. My sister Yui and I were sent here by our father but he didn't tell us why. If you're looking for a more literal answer to that question; well, the front door was unlocked."

Suddenly, there was random laughter.

"Well, what do we have here?" A new voice mused. I looked up to see another red-haired man in a hat standing on the platform of the next floor that the stairs behind me led to. He gazed down at Yui and I as he casually leaned against the railing that overlooked the living room. But I noticed that he studied me in particular with his sly green eyes. "Could it be that two cute little human girls have decided to pay us a visit?"

Just as I began to study him in return, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Next thing I know, someone's licking my neck. I shrieked and pulled away, clutching my throat protectively as I turned to see that he was sitting right next to me.

"My, you smell so sweet and your skin tastes delicious," he cooed.

"What the hell?!" I demanded. How did he even get down here?

"Please, let me have a lick too," said another voice from the other side of me. A purple-haired boy clutching a creepy teddy bear appeared out of nowhere next. I yelped and flinched away from him, scooting backwards just as his tongue grazed my ear. But that was a mistake, as the first one caught me in his arms. He held me tightly against his chest. He was as cold as ice.

"Oh, don't be so frightened, Sugar Tits. I'll protect you from Kanato." I could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Let me go!" I shrieked as I broke free from his hold, causing him to simply laugh.

"Mmm, this one smells just as sweet," the purple-haired boy announced with excitement as he licked Yui's neck. She gasped. I quickly took her by the arm and pulled her closer to me.

"My, what did we do to deserve such a blessing?" the one with the hat chuckled. "Two cute mortals with such delicious scents. It must be a dream."

"Stop that, you two," Reiji ordered. "It's highly inappropriate to behave so impolitely towards young women you've only just met."

"But why?" the one with the hat purred. "It's only natural to want to taste something that looks and smells so yummy. Kanato agrees with me."

"Yes, I do," the boy with the bear nodded. I had no idea if they were talking about Yui or me or both of us. I didn't want to know.

"Hey, knock it off you guys," Ayato said. "Have you forgotten that Yours Truly is the one who saw the Pancake first? Consequently, Yours Truly is going to be her first _everything_."

"Lame," another voice seethed. "I'm so sick of you calling yourself 'Yours Truly.'"

Irritated, Ayato stood up. "What the hell?! Damn it, Subaru! I know that's you. Come out and show yourself!"

"I'm right here," another boy, this one with white hair and red eyes, was suddenly standing to Reiji's right, leaning against the wall. How many of them were there? And where did they keep coming from? "I thought I detected the smell of human in here. Guess I was right. Who are these mortals who dare awaken me from my precious sleep?"

"H-how did you enter this room so quietly?" Yui gaped at him with her wide pink eyes. Thank goodness we seemed to be on the same page here.

"You will answer _my_ question first!" He shouted, slamming his fist into the wall behind him so hard, a small crater was left behind. Pieces of the wall's material crumbled to the floor. I quietly gasped to myself. The monster strength he must possess…how did he not break his hand just now? _And what was_ _wrong_ _with these people?!_

"Hm. Do any of you know what's going on here?" Reiji asked again, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose. "I must find out why these young women have come here to live with us."

"Yeah, on second thought," I said as I quickly got to my feet, hauling Yui with me. "I think there might have been some sort of mistake. We seem to be in the wrong place. We'll be on our way now. I'm very sorry to have bothered you all."

I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Just as we were about to pass Reiji and exit the living room, he stopped us.

"Wait just a minute," he said. I froze. "I am attempting to get to the bottom of this situation here. Don't you think it would be rather discourteous to leave right now?"

"No, not really," I answered, and I couldn't care less if I was being rude. "Because I already figured it out; obviously, my father made a mistake. My sister and I will be leaving. _Now._ "

I turned towards the exit and was about to start off again, but then another new voice started to speak –

"I wonder if they're the young women that he mentioned the other day."

I turned around to see who it was. Towards the back of the room, a man with golden hair laid on his back across a couch.

"Shu. Do you know something about these girls and the reason they're here?" Ayato asked.

"Maybe." He spoke with his eyes closed, like he couldn't care less about anything in the world.

"Don't give us this 'maybe' crap. We'd all appreciate an explanation."

"It was _that_ guy. He contacted me a couple days ago. He told me we'd have some guests arriving from the church, and that we should treat them with respect," the one called Shu explained. But it didn't even make sense to me. Who was he talking about? Was it my father? He mentioned a church, and Father was a priest.

"What? Are you telling me that these girls are the prospective brides?" Ayato gasped.

"Oh. Is that all this is?" someone else sighed heavily.

"Let's be honest," the one with the hat said. "They're more like sacrifices than brides, really."

"Oh, yeah," Shu said, opening his eyes to reveal strikingly blue irises. "He explicitly said that we're not supposed to kill them."

"Oh really. If that's the case then we're going to have a very long relationship with these women," Hat Boy said.

Reiji turned to look at me. "It appears there is no misunderstanding after all. So allow us to introduce ourselves." He nodded to the handsome blonde-haired man in the back. "That is the eldest son, Shu. My name is Reiji and I'm the second son. Next to the triplets; Ayato-"

"I won't let you get away from me next time, Pancake," he smirked at Yui.

"Kanato-" Reiji continued.

"I can't wait to taste you again," he grinned at both Yui and I.

"And Laito."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sugar Tits," he winked at me. I made a face at his offensive name-calling.

"The last son is Subaru," Reiji finished.

"What a waste of time," Subaru scoffed.

"This can't be right," I protested.

"There _has_ to be a mistake," Yui added her agreement.

"No one said anything about a bride," I shook my head in confusion.

"A-and besides," Yui gazed at each one of them fearfully. "The six of you…you're all kind of… _weird._ "

"I second that," I nodded.

"I think…my sister and I need to contact our father," Yui stated.

Suddenly, Ayato pulled Yui's pink phone out and flipped it open. I stared in shock.

"That's my cell phone!" Yui gasped. "You give that back to me, now!"

"Do you really think that I should?" He smirked.

"Give it back!" Yui shouted, rushing towards him to snatch it away. But he held it just out of her reach, teasing and laughing. But then Subaru took it from him.

"What are you doing?" Yui demanded.

" _This_ is what I'm doing," Subaru then crushed her phone like it was nothing but an empty can of soda, breaking it completely. I bit back a gasp. If he crushed her phone, then he'd destroy mine too. I couldn't let them touch it.

"How could you?" Yui gasped.

"Get lost," he turned away from her.

"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do," I snapped, surprising myself. Where did _that_ come from? But apparently I wasn't finished, because I turned to Reiji – who seemed to be the most sensible one here. "Is there a landline we can use? I don't have a phone." I lied. I swallowed hard. That was the first lie I ever told in my life. And it just poured right out of my mouth like _nothing_. What had gotten into me? I hoped to God that none of them could see the guilt in my eyes.

"Yeah, right. What kind of little girl doesn't have a cell phone?" Laito said. "Hand it over, Sugar Tits."

Having enough of his arrogance, I snapped. "First of all, I'm eighteen, I'm not a 'little girl.' Secondly, my name is Clary, not 'Sugar Tits.' And lastly, I _don't_ have a phone."

"So if I frisk you, I won't find one?" He flashed me a wicked smirk and got up.

"How about I empty my pockets for you and you keep your distance?" I bluffed, hoping to God he wouldn't call me out, because my phone was actually tucked into the waistband of my jeans since I had ran out of pocket room for it.

"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" He cooed as he approached me. Suddenly, he was behind me. I stood petrified as he toyed with my wavy locks of brunette hair. He inhaled deeply into my neck. "You smell so delicious I can hardly stand it."

"Get away from me!" I shouted as I regained control of my nerves and jerked away from him. But he laughed and grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I tried to wrench my hand free but his grip was iron. So I did the first thing that came to mind, the only I _could_ do; I bit him. Right in the wrist. His hard and icy flesh crunched between my teeth.

He yelled and pulled away, clutching his wound. I stared at him, shocked to the core at what I had just done…and frightened about what he would do about it. There was an eerie silence that settled in the room as he gaped at me, then down at his injury. There were some deep markings on his skin, but it wasn't punctured.

"Y-you bit me," Laito breathed in disbelief. Then he busted out in laughter. "You _bit_ me!"  
While his hysterical laughter increased, so did my fear. Yui moved to stand behind me.

"Laito," Reiji said in a hard tone. The laughter ceased immediately. "Did she draw blood?"

"Almost, but not quite. Still, that was quite the rush, Sugar Tits," he grinned. "I've never been the victim of a bite before. I've always been the one to do the biting. I'll have to make you pay for that later. When I bite you, I'll leave you a mark you'll _never_ forget."

"You shouldn't take this so lightly," Reiji scolded. "You know what could happen if a mortal ingests a vampire's blood. Never let this happen again."

"Hey, _she_ was the one who bit _him_. Maybe we ought to just sew her pretty mouth shut so we can drink her blood in peace," Ayato huffed.

My heart seemed to freeze with fear. Did I hear right? Did they just say _vampire?_ Were they actually talking about drinking my blood and sewing my mouth right in front of me like they were discussing nothing more than the weather? I couldn't believe this.

"V-vampires?" Yui gasped. "You're all…vampires?" she quickly pulled her rosary out. "Take that, you monsters!"

It was silent yet again as everyone stared at us. I heard Shu chuckle in the back.

"Honestly," Reiji sighed heavily as he sat down. "You can't really believe there is any truth to that old fairy tale written by a mortal – the one that claims vampires are vulnerable to garlic, holy crosses and sunshine? It just goes to show how foolish and arrogant mortals can be. And it _infuriates_ me," he growled.

I had had enough of it. I grabbed Yui's hand and turned for the door, booking it out of that horrible room. I made sure to push her ahead of me as we ran through the dark and sinister hallways of the mansion. My heart was pounding with each step.

After making three lefts and a right, which was going back the way we came, we were almost to the front doors. Yui tried to stop at a table on which an antiquated phone was placed, but I grabbed her arm as I caught up to her and pulled her along. There was no time for it.

Together, we ran for those grand doors. We ran for our freedom. I used my shoulder to barrel into it, only to find that it was locked. In my desperate attempt to escape, I slammed my body into the door again. It hardly shuddered. I gripped the handles and pushed and pulled on them, but they hardly budged.

 _God, please don't let this happen._

A hand suddenly slammed on the door beside my head. I jumped and turned around to see Laito and Ayato standing there. Laito was the one holding the door closed as he loomed over me.

"Did you honestly think you could escape?" Ayato smirked.

"Especially when I didn't get my revenge on you yet," Laito added, his eyes glowing green in the darkness like Ayato's did earlier. Laito took my chin in his hand and tilted my face up to his. My breaths came in choppy gasps and my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest.

"I believe the time has come where you scream. I want to hear you scream. Please humor me by screaming at the top of your lungs," Ayato grinned as he leaned in.

And I did scream. A terrified shout ripped from my throat as I shoved Laito off me. I quickly grabbed Yui's hand and pushed past the vampires, running back into the mansion. This time we flew right up the stairs. At the top of the platform, Kanato stood there and grinned at the both of us. He said something but I couldn't hear him over the sound of my heavy breathing. But apparently Yui had, because she shrieked and her grip slipped from my hand as we both ran different ways, I went left and she went right.

I flashed her a horrified look over my shoulder as we ran our own ways. Though we were separated, there was no other choice but to push on. Yui was on her own now, and so was I. But I knew I had to find a way to get back to her as quickly as possible.

I swiftly sprinted down the halls and used my high speed to launch myself at the walls and kick off them when rounding corners so that I never had to slow my pace. I was grateful for my gift with running. If only my old track team could see me fly now.

Just as I was approaching a hallway up ahead that forked to the left and right, I heard faint traces of laughter from behind me. I immediately froze in my tracks.

"Claaaryyy," a voice in the darkness sang. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Chills ran down my back. I couldn't see where – or who – the voice was coming from. And I didn't stick around to find out.

I was already running again, dipping into the right hall. I glanced over my shoulder and caught a flash of purple hair.

 _Oh no. Not him._

I immediately took the very next turn out of that hallway, only to hear more laughter.  
"You can't run from me, Sugar Tits!" He was close behind me.

With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I pushed myself to run harder than I ever have. My muscles strained as I quickly rounded another corner and then another and booked it up a flight of stairs two at a time, until the laughter and the taunting fell silent. Just to be safe, I turned one more corner before pressing my back up against the wall and resting there for a moment to catch my breath. I clamped a hand over my mouth to muffle my heavy panting.

It took a few moments before I was able to recover and relax slightly. I held my breath and closed my eyes, straining to listen for anyone coming this way.

It was utterly dead silent. As quiet as a graveyard. All I could hear was the sound of the blood rushing in my ears and my heart thumping strongly.

Even though I heard nothing that would indicate someone coming, my sixth sense still kicked in; the one where I could just _feel_ it in the air that I wasn't alone. The feeling that caused my skin to break out in goosebumps and the hair on the back of my neck to rise because even though I couldn't hear or see them, I still _knew_ they were there.

"Boo," a voice whispered into my ear. I screamed and ripped myself away from the wall. Amused laughter followed after me as I took off down the corridors again.

"I'll always find you, Sugar Tits!"

After turning this way and that and thoroughly finding myself lost but alone inside the mansion, I came upon a door with broken chains on the floor. I decided it was better than nothing and pushed my way inside, quickly closing the door behind me.

I took a moment to catch my breath as I panted like a dog, resting my hands on my knees. But before I could even glance around the room I had found myself in, I heard someone quickly coming this way from outside. I knew it was Yui right away from the sound of her breathy gasps for air. I quickly opened the door to usher her inside.

"Clary," she gasped as she ran in. I shut the door behind her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she nodded, catching her breath. Relief ran through me. She glanced around. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea. Safe, hopefully." The room was dark and cold. Some of the furniture was covered in white sheets, like something you'd find in a haunted house. Against one wall, there was a vanity with multiple pieces of antique jewelry and perfume bottles spread out. Yui went to peer out the large window in which the moon shined light through. I examined the bookcases on the wall behind her. Just before I could reach for a volume, Yui suddenly gasped loudly and backed away from the window while clutching her chest.

"It hurts!" She cried as she slammed into the shelves and knocked a few books down.

"Yui!" I caught her before she could run into anything else. She went limp in my arms. I carefully set her on the ground and kneeled beside her, gripping her shoulders. Was she having a heart attack? I wouldn't doubt it. It was like we had stepped into a horror movie the moment we arrived here; never ending jump-scares. "Yui, what's wrong?!"

She whimpered in pain as she held her chest tightly. But she looked up, past me and out towards the window with wide, fearful eyes.

"Yui," I breathed. "Did you see something? Talk to me!"

She took a deep breath and relaxed a little. "I'm okay…I just thought…I thought I saw someone out there."

I got up and glanced out the window. Outside, all I could see was an empty balcony that the window-door led out to. The gardens before the balcony were all clear, too.

I shook my head and looked back at Yui. "There's nothing out there." I studied her carefully as she continued to hold her chest tightly. She truly did look like she saw a ghost or something. Maybe she had just hallucinated it. I wouldn't be surprised. Couldn't fear and exhaustion make you see things?

I sat down beside her. "Even if there was…why would that make your chest hurt?" I asked.

"I don't know," she shook her head, her wavy locks of platinum hair swayed with her. She glanced at the books that surrounded us, the ones that fell when she bumped into the case. Her eyes locked on something in particular. I followed her gaze to a picture on the floor that had been knocked out of a black book.

" _Wait_ ," I breathed, grabbing the photo and the book it came from. I held it up so Yui could see it too. In the photo, there was a man in a priest's uniform who looked like a younger version of Father. He held two sleeping infant girls in his arms; one with blonde hair like Yui's and the other with brown hair like mine. "What is this?"

"Could this be…us?" Yui gasped. I took a closer look at the picture.

"Yui," I whispered. "That's your rosary, isn't it?" I pointed to the pink and silver cross that the blonde-haired baby clutched in her small fist.

"Oh my God," her eyes widened. "This _is_ us."

"Does that mean that this is Father's diary?" I asked, holding up the book.

"But…how?" Yui asked. "Why is it here?"

"I don't know," I shook my head. But I was thirsty for knowledge. I glanced at the page in the diary that the picture had been tucked into and began to read. "'Clary and Yui bring me great joy. The fact that they are not related to each other, nor are they my natural children is longer important to me. I am only grateful for these tremendous blessings every day of my life.'" That was the end of the passage.

I looked back up at Yui. The expression on her face matched what I was feeling inside – some sort of mix of bewilderment, confusion and heartbreak.

"S-so what does that mean?" she asked. "Is it true that we're not actually Father's daughters?!"

"And…we're not actually sisters," I breathed. It was like a punch to the gut; a slap to the face; a knife twisting in my heart. Were we really not biologically related? It almost seemed unreal. Ever since I could remember, I had always wondered what Mother looked like. Did she have pink eyes like Yui's or green eyes like mine? Did she have Yui's platinum blonde hair or my dark brown? I always assumed that whatever color Mother's hair was – whether it was brown or blonde – it was still wavy, because that seemed to be the only thing Yui and I shared in terms of physical features – wavy hair. Well, of course there was also the pale skin, thin frame and short stature that we had in common. But I was still a bit taller and heavier and slightly more developed than her. I always thought it was just because I was older, so of course I _looked_ older too, right?

But _why?_ Why did Father never tell us? Sure, I could've handled knowing I was actually adopted. But to find out _this_ way…

I reached for my phone and dialed Father's number, intending to get to the bottom of this at once.

"Well, well, look what we have here," a voice chuckled. I jumped and dropped the diary, looking up just in time to see Laito snatch my phone away. "It appears you lied to us about not having a phone." He smirked as he smashed it between his two hands, not even bothering to see who I was calling first. I glared at him as he did so, but I couldn't do anything about it. "You're a good liar, Sugar Tits. You had me fooled for a second."

"Of all our rooms, you had to pick _this_ one to enter," Reiji sighed. That was when I realized that all six vampires were in the room, it wasn't just Laito. "We took great care to seal off this room so you shouldn't have been able to get in here. I must be sure to install a new lock on the door immediately."

"That's for sure," Laito agreed. "Why don't you tell us how you managed to get in here, Sugar Tits?"

"The lock was already broken when I got here," I said honestly.

"Remember that you are my prey, so please don't move," Kanato grinned at Yui.

"I'm not anyone's prey," she protested.

"I've heard enough of your damn excuses!" Subaru growled, hitting the wall so hard, a few more books toppled off the shelves and rained down onto Yui and I. I gasped and shielded my head, but was luckily not hit by any sort of falling literature.

" _Jeez_. Give it a rest, Subaru," Laito sighed.

"You shut up!" He shouted.

"That's the look," Ayato smirked as he held Yui's chin in his hand. "You know how to get my juices flowing, don't you?"

Fearing for Yui, I pushed him away. "Don't touch her!"

Laito laughed. "Ayato, let's feed on Sugar Tits first. She seems to be the most rebellious and we need to straighten that out right away. Besides, I still need to get my revenge," he smirked.

"I would like a taste too, please," Kanato begged.

"There's one thing you must fully comprehend from this day forward," Reiji said. "You will never be able to escape, so make no attempt to do so."

"Don't be such a wuss and get straight to the point, will you? Just tell them that if they try to escape, they're dead," Subaru said.

Ayato, Kanato and Laito each had a firm grip on me. Laito and Ayato were both sniffing and licking my neck. Kanato had my wrist. I struggled to pull away but their grips were firm.

"Stop it!" I shouted, on the verge of tears. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs, hammered in my ears. I thought I could hear Yui begging for them to stop too. The edges of my vision grew dark as my panic skyrocketed. "Let me go! _Stop!_ "

Glass shattered loudly on the floor all of a sudden, causing the three vampires to pull away from me and look over at Shu, who sat on the arm of a chair with his back to me. But he glanced at me over his shoulder with his blazing blue eyes.

"My bad," he said in a lazy tone. "Seems like I knocked something over." He turned away, sighing. I blinked at him _. Did…he do that on purpose?_

The three vampires let go of me, apparently the mood had been killed. Relief flushed through my body, so strong it made me feel weak. My heart started to slow after thumping at nearly impossible speeds. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with immense fatigue, feeling completely drained of energy.

I wouldn't say I fell asleep. It was more like I passed out.


	3. Decisions

My eyes fluttered open. My head mildly ached. Memories of the events from last night flashed through my mind; running through the mansion, the strange room, Father's diary. Remembering that I wasn't actually his biological daughter sent a wave of despair through me. Why did I have to find out like _that?  
_  
Then I remembered what happened after discovering the diary. All six of them showed up and then three of them physically violated me by licking my neck. But they didn't bite me…I was sure of it. What happened after I passed out? Could they still have… _fed_ on me?

I gasped in horror, quickly sitting up to grope my neck, feeling for any wounds. Apparently I was spared, because I felt no pain or any other sign of anything unusual. Drawing a breath of relief, I glanced around, half expecting to find myself alone in that room from last night. But instead, I was in a fully-furnished bedroom. Was this my official room, then? The fading light of the day outside spilled in through the open curtains of the giant glass window-door on the left wall that probably led out to a balcony. How long had I been out for? A day, it looked like. The clock on the nightstand to my left read 5:20 in Roman numerals.

I continued to examine the room. My suitcase was placed by the wardrobe in the corner. Beside the wardrobe was a study desk and chair, the desk was lined with thick volumes and a small lamp. Along with all the furniture, the room was decorated with potted plants, framed paintings, wall sconces and purple carpets to match the purple bed sheets. It was a shade too light and girly for me to like but it was probably something Yui would love.

 _Yui_.

I kicked the sheets off me, only to find that I was wearing a thin nightgown. A surprised gasp escaped my lips. Whoever it was that carried me to this room had to have also been the one to dress me in this. Did I even _want_ to know which of them did that?

It didn't matter anyway. I had to find Yui.

"Well, look who's awake," a voice cooed. I froze. I wasn't ready for this to start happening all over again. It was like I had just escaped one nightmare only to find myself in a new one. I looked up to see Laito sitting on the mattress at the foot of the bed, smirking slyly at me. He reminded me of a fox with his cheeky smirks and predator-like eyes narrowed into amused slits.  
"You're looking pretty sexy in that negligee. And you really do give off such a delicious aroma." He inhaled deeply through his nose and shivered. "I've got to wonder if you're trying to tempt me, Sugar Tits." He crawled up the bed towards me, moving in like a cat about to toy with a mouse. The mattress around me sank in deeper as he came closer.

I quickly rolled off the bed and ran over by the balcony door, though the sudden movement caused my head to ache a little more. I ignored the pain. "Stay away from me!" I shouted. "And tell me where Yui is."

"What's going on in here?" Another voice demanded. I looked over to see Reiji standing in the room near the bed, wearing a stern expression on his face. For some strange reason, I was already getting used to them appearing out of thin air. "Hurry up or you'll be late."

Laito sighed. "And I was having so much fun."

Reiji ignored him and looked at me, eyeing me up and down with clear distaste for the gown I was wearing. I flushed and folded my arms protectively across my chest, wanting to snap at him that it wasn't _me_ who dressed myself in this skimpy thing.

"You are going to need to get dressed," he said.

"And where are we going?" I asked.

"School."

"Now? But it's almost dark outside," I furrowed my eyebrows at him.

"Seriously. How obtuse can you be? Must I always be required to spell every little detail out for you? You will be attending night school."

I ignored his condescending tone. "Why this late at night?" I pressed.

"Though you mortals are accustomed to being active during daylight hours, we simply cannot allow you to do so. As long as you reside in the Sakamaki home, you will abide by our rules and adjust to our lifestyle. If this arrangement doesn't suit you, you are welcome to leave this house at any time," Reiji said, turning to leave.

"Is that an invitation?" I muttered. Didn't he say last night that if we tried to escape we'd be dead?

"Did you say something?" Reiji challenged. He stood with his back to me as he was about to start out of the room. Being a vampire, I'd imagine his hearing was impeccable. Perhaps he knew what I said, he was just warning me not to say it again. Or maybe he was daring me to. Either way, I knew better than to repeat myself.

"Where's Yui?" I asked instead.

"Her bedroom is right beside yours. She's in there now, getting ready for school. Now quit messing around. Hurry up and change into the school uniform I've laid out for you."

I glanced at the bed. Sure enough, there was a black and white uniform resting there. So that was why he was actually in the room. I didn't even notice him carrying that. When I looked back up, both Laito and Reiji were gone. _Cursed vampires_. I hated how silently they moved. One moment they were there and the next, they weren't.

Since I didn't want to be caught by another vampire in this horrendous outfit, I quickly changed into the school uniform. It was a perfect fit, but I still shifted uncomfortably in it. The skirt was too short for my liking. It wasn't like I was uncomfortable showing off some leg, because I was actually used to wearing spandex shorts for track and _those_ were pretty short. I just didn't like the skirt because it was short and loose (unlike spandex) with nothing to be worn underneath to help prevent someone from seeing my underwear if it were to fly up.  
Along with that, I hated the stupid bow that had to be worn around the collar of my button-up shirt. Why was the upper body dressed more modestly than the lower half? I longed for my usual clothes; a flowy blouse or comfy sweater, tight jeans and canvas sneakers. I sighed heavily, there was nothing I could do but deal with it for now.

Glancing around the room that was now my bedroom, I noticed a wooden door on the right wall. Was it a closet? I made my way over to it and was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually a bathroom. At least I was granted my very own bath.  
I stepped inside and flipped the light on. The bathroom was luxurious, like something out of a magazine. It was spacious and included a separate shower and tub. Towels were neatly folded and stacked on the granite counter, the walls featured elegant designs formed from glass tiles and potted plants decorated the rest of the room.

I stood at the sink and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Big green eyes filled my small and pale face. My dark hair was a tangled mess of unruly waves that spilled around my shoulders and chest like a lion's mane. I had a hairbrush in my suitcase, but I didn't feel like fishing for it. Running my fingers through my hair sorted out some of the chaos and tamed a few problem locks. That was good enough.

With my head still aching, I ran the tap and splashed some cold water on my face. I hoped I wasn't getting sick with something. Seriously, this headache just came out of nowhere. I rarely ever got sick. Even when Yui was infected with the flu and was highly contagious, I never got sick. I stayed home and took care of her while she had a fever. Father was always impressed with my immune system. He said it was almost _inhuman_ , like I was blessed by some divine entity with it. So of course, this headache was starting to worry me.

I grabbed one of the towels from the fancy stack and dried my face off before haphazardly tossing it away, already making a mess of the neat bathroom and not caring. I slapped my cheeks a little, leaving faint pink marks that could've been mistaken for a light blush. _Get better. Stop being sick,_ I told myself. Of course, my headache was still there. Great. The last thing I wanted was to catch a cold just when I needed to be at my healthiest.

 _"There's one thing you must fully comprehend from this day forward...You will never be able to escape, so make no attempt to do so."  
_  
 _"Don't be such a wuss and get straight to the point, will you? Just tell them that if they try to escape, they're dead."  
_  
Reiji and Subaru's words ran through my head, leaving me in a grim mood. Did they really mean that? Would they actually kill us if we tried to escape? But why? Didn't Shu say that they were explicitly told _not_ to kill us by whoever it was that told him Yui and I were coming?

I sighed heavily and frowned at myself. "How did I get into this mess?"

More importantly, how do I get _out?_ Because this whole situation was unacceptable. There was just no way I'd stand around and wait to get my blood sucked. And how could I let that happen to Yui? I shook my head to myself. No. I just couldn't.

No matter what they said, I wouldn't obey them. No matter what kind of threats they tried to scare me with, I would still fight them. Even if they threatened to kill me, I was still going to try to escape. I had no other option.

"There's no other choice," I whispered.

I had to form a plan.

* * *

It was completely dark outside by the time we left for school. I was a little surprised to find that we were taking a limousine there. But considering the Sakamakis lived in a mansion, I shouldn't have expected anything else. They were a wealthy family.

I had always wanted to ride in a limo. I imagined my first time would be awesome; cruising around town with my friends from school. But the reality was that my first limo ride would be awful, because I was going to be with a bunch of vampires instead. It wasn't pleasant cramming into the back with the brothers. Yui and I didn't even get to sit next to each other. It was silent and the atmosphere was tense. Every brother kept to themselves, like they had no desire to speak to one another. Did they not get along with each other?

I carefully eyed each one of them. Reiji was sitting on the seats on the left side, reading a book. Subaru was right beside him, staring out his window. On the long seat that stretched across the back was where Laito, Kanato, Shu and I sat, in that order.  
Laito seemed lost in his thoughts, with his eyes closed and a smirk on his lips. I didn't even want to know what kinds of things he might be daydreaming about.

Kanato played with his creepy bear, which I thought was just plain weird. Physically, he didn't look much older than seventeen. But based on what I knew about vampires, he could actually be centuries old. Either way, he seemed too old to be playing with toys.  
But there was something about Kanato and him playing with his teddy that seemed oddly right. He looked like he could've been the youngest brother, though I remember Reiji saying that Subaru was the last one.

Regardless, Kanato had the most boyish looks. He was the shortest of all his brothers; and standing near him earlier in the evening, I noticed that we were the exact same height – five feet and five inches. He had purple hair and eyes that only added to his young appeal. But there was also something disturbingly _off_ about him. He looked so young, yet he had dark bags under his eyes, like he was an insomniac or something. It made him look mentally crazed. He most likely _was_. I came to the conclusion that Kanato, though he looked young, was actually by far the creepiest of them all. I would try to avoid him at all costs. I'd even prefer Laito over him.

I took secret glances at Shu next, who was directly to my left. With little space on the seats, our arms occasionally brushed together. Each time that happened, it made my skin break out in anxious chills. Would he get irritated and lash out at me? There wasn't much I could do about the situation since there was hardly any room. But he remained calm and unmoving. His eyes were closed, and he wore a pair of earbuds in his pierced ears. Did he always listen to music? I remembered him wearing earbuds yesterday, too. It appeared his MP3 was attached to the cord he wrapped around his neck. Unlike the rest of us, he wasn't wearing a proper school uniform. He wore his normal clothes, with only the jacket of the uniform draped over his shoulders, like it was too much effort to properly put on.

I wondered if I could get away with breaking the dress code too. I wouldn't mind unbuttoning a few restricting buttons on my shirt or losing the frilly pink bow. I took one last glance at Shu. Though I would _never_ admit this to anyone but myself, I decided he was fairly attractive.

To my right was Ayato, sitting on the seats across from Reiji and Subaru's. On the other side of him was Yui, with her hands folded in her lap, trying to take up as little room as possible. Ayato kept glancing over at her. Seriously. What was with his obsession with her?

Yui met my gaze once again, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the whole duration of the car ride. Not that I minded, as each time we shared a glance it filled me with immense relief. But ever since I had stepped out of my room this morning, she just _knew_ something was wrong with me. We may not have been blood-related, but that certainly never stopped us from acting like it. Yui and I were constantly in tune with each other, the way that real siblings were.

I attempted to give her another reassuring nod, but my headache was getting worse. To the point where I felt like moving would make me throw up. Still, I bit my tongue and said nothing. I hadn't told anyone I was feeling sick today, not even Yui. I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

Yui frowned at my pained expression, clearly questioning me with her eyes. Her gaze flickered to Reiji, and I knew she was thinking about saying something. I quickly shook my head at her, discouraging her from speaking up for me. She pursed her lips, obviously wanting to protest. I fixed her a serious look and silently mouthed the word 'no.' She shrugged and continued to frown at me with sad pink eyes.

I gave her a small smile to show her my thanks. Then I winked at her, which was something we always did to let each other know when one of us was planning something. We always used to do that at home. Whether planning a surprise birthday party for Father or playing Secret Santa with the church, we always passed a subtle wink to let each other know we were up to something that was to remain secret.

Yui blinked at me in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. I knew she was wondering what I could possibly be up to. Though I could still see the confusion on her face, she smiled back to signify her trust in me.

"A penny for your thoughts, Pancake. What's on your mind?" Ayato suddenly asked Yui, breaking the silence. I quickly averted my gaze from Yui to end our silent conversation. But he glanced over at me. "I saw those looks you two were giving each other. Mind filling us in? I don't speak mute." He turned back to Yui.  
She looked over his shoulder at me. I shook my head slightly at her, warning her not to say anything. I could feel other pairs of eyes on me now, watching me. Great. And here I was, hoping not to draw attention to myself.

"Do you dare defy Yours Truly, or will you finally learn to submit?" Ayato pressed, scooting closer to Yui. "Huh, Pancake?" She held her hands up defensively, trying in vain to create some sort of barrier between herself and the vampire.

"I'd appreciate it if you would stop calling me that," Yui said. "I have a name, and it's Yui Komori. So don't call me Pancake."

"Shut your mouth. Your opinion is irrelevant to me so I'll call you whatever I like. So deal, _Pancake_." He leaned in closer, his mouth half open. I could see the tips of his shining fangs ready to pierce her skin, causing my heart to jolt with alarm. Just as I was about to take action, Reiji slammed his book closed loudly, getting Ayato's attention.

"Ayato. How many times must I tell you? You will restrict such activities to your private room," he scolded, warning riding in his tone.

"Hmph," Ayato backed off of Yui and crossed his arms, pouting like a child. I sighed in relief, relaxing back into my seat. My arm brushed against Shu's again.

"I brought this for you two to drink," Reiji said, tossing a juice box at both Yui and I. Despite my increased headache, my reflexes were still quick enough to catch it. "One hundred percent pure cranberry juice is the best cure for those with weak blood."

"T-thank you," Yui said.

"Does it cure headaches too?" I muttered under my breath, but I wasn't sure if anyone heard me. Or just didn't care.

"Oh, you needn't thank me," Reiji growled. "You must be fully aware that you are to become our prey. So drink your juice daily, please."

If there was a way to describe how I felt…like my heart stopped for a second. The breath escaped from my lungs as my blood heated inside my veins, like there was liquid fear running through them. Really, it was just an adrenaline rush.

Yui gasped, fearfully clutching her juice box. I could barely even stand to look at mine. I wanted to throw it at Reiji's face, dump it all out onto his head. But I also wanted to live, so I held still.

"Oh look, her teeth are chattering," Kanato giggled as he looked at Yui. "Listen, Teddy. This is what happens when mortals feel afraid. They show us their fear with this sort of behavior. It's funny to watch. So take a good look, okay?" He turned his bear so that it was facing Yui. I clenched my teeth as hard as I could to keep myself from screaming in frustration. I was shaking too, but not out of fear anymore, it was out of sheer anger.

 _For sure._  
For sure, I would get Yui and I out of this. No matter _what_.

We were unsafe with these men. Not only were they not human, but it seemed each one of them was psychologically damaged, making them that much more dangerous.  
I felt stripped of my freedom as I finally realized the truth of my desperate situation; Yui and I were hostages. And I wanted to rip my hair out and scream and throw huge tantrums. I wanted _out_. How fast was the car moving? How injured would I be if I jumped out right now? Would the landing kill me? Would I be okay with that?

 _No_.

For sure I would get out of this. It would just take time and patience and a whole lot of effort. But I could do it. I _had_ to.

 _Because escape was our only option._ I repeated this to myself like a prayer.

* * *

Hi everyone :) This story seems to be doing well on here so far, which is great news, because there's a lot more where this came from! xD

So what do you think? What's going on with Clary and her weird headache?! And what kind of plan will she come up with to escape the Sakamaki brothers? Find out in the next chapter ;)


	4. Night School

Ryoutei Academy was huge, and reminded me of the mansion because of its layout; there was an open square-shaped courtyard in the center surrounded by the building on three sides. The moon was high and bright tonight, but the lights spilling from the school greatly outshined it.

The limo came to a stop outside the front building to drop us off. I purposefully left my juice box behind when no one was looking, no way was I going to drink that just so my blood could taste better for them. I wasn't going to make myself appetizing on purpose.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I struggled to pretend I didn't feel faint. It was hard to move when my legs trembled and my muscles stiffened and my joints threatened to lock, but I pushed on, keeping up with the others and falling into stride beside Subaru.

Yui glanced back at me with wide concerned eyes. She definitely knew I wasn't feeling like myself. But the vampires wouldn't know that.

Throughout the campus, small groups of two to three people milled about, chatting amongst themselves. I wondered if any of them were vampires too. They all _looked_ human. The more I observed the other students, I began to notice that they were staring back at us, especially the girls. They gawked at the Sakamaki boys with hopeful eyes, then turned to excitedly whisper-hiss something to their friend. Then they'd giggle.

What was _that_ all about?

Inside the building, Subaru and Laito immediately strayed from us, not that I was complaining. The less I had to deal with, the better. The rest of us stood in a group. Reiji looked down at Yui, who was standing close beside me.

"You will be in the same class as Ayato and Kanato. Follow them, please," he said. Yui looked up at me, since she was three inches shorter. I nodded at her, assuring her I would be alright despite the fact that my head was throbbing now. She hesitated but followed after the two brothers. Reiji looked at me next, narrowing his red eyes into slits, causing me to stiffen under the hardness of his stare.

"Is something the matter?" He inquired.

"Huh? Why do you ask?" I blinked at him. I definitely didn't expect him to ask me how I was doing.

"You seem a little off," he observed. "Did you eat anything before we left?"

"Yes, I ate," I answered. "I'm just feeling a little sick. I'll be fine."

"If you insist," he nodded, like he was glad he wouldn't have to deal with me. "Since you're a third year student, you'll be in class with Shu. Go with him, please."

Shu was already wandering away. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and trailed behind him. I could feel Reiji's gaze boring into my back as I walked. I let out a breath of relief when I followed Shu around the corner at the end of the hall, escaping Reiji's searing stare.

After traveling at a slow pace down the barren corridors for a few minutes, turning this way and that, Shu stopped in his tracks. I froze as well. He glanced at me over his shoulder.

"You're like a lost puppy," he said in a low tone. "Quit following me around."

"Reiji said to go with you," I furrowed my eyebrows.

"And you listen to him? Do you listen to just anyone who orders you around? Pathetic."

I had to admit, I was surprised by his words. It wasn't like Reiji's order was out of the ordinary. But I was quite offended by Shu's remark. Of course I wouldn't listen to just anyone. The violent throbbing in my brain sent sudden surges of anger and annoyance through me. Before I knew it, I found myself snapping.

"I most certainly don't! What do you think I am?" I clutched my head as if that would stop the pain. "I…I'm really not in the mood for this," I grunted. "Just please show me where our class is."

Shu regarded me with a look of utter nonchalance. "It's this way."

I followed him once again, muttering a quiet yet sarcastic thanks for all the concern.

* * *

We arrived to class late. The teacher was already at the board, explaining the lesson on some complicated algebra formula. And students were already seated at their desks, taking notes. I felt so awkward randomly popping in with Shu.

The classroom door closed behind us loudly, announcing our arrival. The teacher stopped mid-sentence and turned to face us. His brown hair was slicked into place with gel, his nerdy glasses were big and round, and his demeanor was calm. But his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Shu.

"Sakamaki," he addressed. "You finally decided to show up. But you're late…oh well. At least you actually _came_." A few people snickered at the teacher's comment. His brown-eyed gaze turned to me. "And you are?"

"Clary Komori," I answered. "I'm a new student."

"Oh, yes!" He exclaimed joyfully, and the high-pitched note of his voice made my head throb in protest. "I've been expecting you. Clarisse, right?"

"I prefer just Clary," I said as politely as I could, but there was a faint bite of irritation in my tone. I clenched my jaw.

"Excuse me," he apologized with a frown. "I'll make that correction in your file when I get to it. For now, have a seat. Anywhere you like. Although if you're with Shu, I suggest sitting beside him for a while so he can help you get used to the class…just don't pick up his bad habit of ditching."

 _That's okay, I'm not with him at all,_ I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue and nodded instead.

I turned to face the class, feeling my nerves spike at being the center of attention, as every pair of eyes was locked on me. Normally, I was fine in the limelight, but that was only when I was on the track and running, not being scrutinized and judged by a bunch of strangers.

Shu started towards some empty seats in the back. I hesitated before following him, but I was grateful I would get to sit safely away from any prying eyes. Why was everyone staring at me like that? Like I was some sort of foreigner. Well, I supposed I _was._

A few girls cast me some evil glares. Remembering how the females acted upon first entering the school, I couldn't help but wonder if it was because I had shown up with Shu. It seemed most girls vied for the attention of the Sakamaki brothers.

Shu took a seat at the end of the first row, plopping into the empty desk and then proceeding to put his head down. I claimed the seat directly behind his and leaned back against the chair, crossing my arms and legs.

The teacher resumed his lesson and the students resumed their notes. And I continued to ignore my splitting headache.

I needed to listen to something to calm me down, to ease the pain. The teacher's endless banter was already starting to be too much. I was already rummaging in my bag for my iPod, where I usually kept it when I was at school, but then I remembered – my iPod was in the back pocket of my jeans from last night. And I didn't wake up in my old clothes. I didn't even know where my old clothes _were_.

I gazed at Shu. His arm lay outstretched across his desk, his cheek rested on it. I bit my lip, wondering whether I should ask him or not.

But the more I thought about the situation – of actually _losing_ my iPod, the more it upset me. My iPod was one of my prized possessions, and I never went anywhere without it. Every song I listened to spoke to me in some way. Every strum of a guitar, every beat of a drum, every delicate stroke of a piano key, all of it was connected to my heartstrings. And maybe that was weird to think, but I truly believed that no one appreciated music as much as I did. All I could say was that it was my language. Music spoke for me when words couldn't. Music calmed me when no one else could.

I _had_ to get it back.

"Shu," I whispered. He didn't budge. "Shu," I whispered a little louder. Still no movement. I leaned forward in my seat to poke him in the back, though I had a slight fear that he would immediately turn around and lash out at me the second I touch him. The only reason why I didn't completely reject the idea of poking him was because I highly doubted he would freak out in front of the whole class just because of that.

But Shu didn't even move when I pressed the tip of my finger into his shoulder blade, my nail digging into his shirt. He was either a heavy sleeper, or he was ignoring me. Neither of which made me happy. I pulled a pen from my bag and tossed it at Shu, not even caring if it would anger him or not anymore; at this point, getting a rise out of him would only benefit me. Still, there was little success as the pen bounced off his back and landed on floor.

All of my attempts to try to get Shu's attention caused the guy sitting in the desk beside mine to cast me a weird look. I sheepishly grinned at him, but when he just continued to stare at me like I was some alien, I lost my patience.

"What are you looking at?!" I hissed. He quickly turned away to face the board again. At that moment, Shu moved. He sat up and turned his body to the side so that he could lean his back against the wall behind him. He crossed his arms and let his head hang down.

"What do you want?" He muttered, keeping his eyes closed. For a moment, I was at a loss for words. So he _was_ ignoring me. He knew this whole time I was trying to get his attention and didn't do anything. I wasn't sure whether it was stupid to be angry or wise to just forget the whole thing and not say another word. But, me being me, I always had to go with the reckless option. So I just sucked it up and pushed on, letting my desperation to get my iPod back motivate me. Besides, if it was always that hard to get his attention, then who knew when I'd be able to get it again.

"My clothes from last night…where are they?" I whispered, eyeing the teacher with caution, but he was oblivious as he droned on about math. The kid next to me turned to glance at me again, his eyes wide.

With my annoyance at the whole situation growing, I snapped. "What now?!" I demanded as I glared at him.

"That's inappropriate," he whispered back. Immediately, I felt my cheeks flare. I just realized how suggestive that would sound when out of context. But I wasn't going to explain my bizarre situation to some random guy.

"M-mind your own business!" I ordered. He turned back around. I returned my attention to Shu, and to my surprise, he had an amused smirk on his face. He looked at me.

"I think you left your clothes in my bedroom," Shu answered. At first, I was confused. But when he chuckled at the guy who had looked back _again_ to gape at us with red cheeks, I understood why he had said that. He was trying to mess with me.

"I did no such thing," I shook my head, which only caused my brain to throb.

"Is that why you're blushing?" Shu teased. "There's nothing to be ashamed of." His smirk widened. "We had a wild night, after all, didn't we?"

The guy's face was something next to horrification. I probably looked no different.

"We should do it again tonight," Shu continued, winking at me. "This time, I'll leave my mark all over your delicious body."

"Cut it out!" I hissed at him, cheeks flaring. Never had someone spoken to me in that way before. And why was I blushing so hard? Did I find Shu _that_ attractive? I huffed in frustration. "Look, I just want to know if you've seen my iPod. It was in my pocket last night. Where did those clothes I was wearing go?"

Shu's smirk faded away, apparently I had killed his fun. But he raised a curious eyebrow at me. "What do mean where did your clothes go? Were you not wearing them?"

I hesitated to answer him, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I averted my gaze. "Uhm, well…when I woke up in that bedroom, I was dressed in a nightgown." Now I was just blushing out of shame. Someone had been able to undress me while I was unconscious. Someone saw me _completely naked_. I was lucky that whoever it was didn't take advantage of that opportunity to do other _things_ …

"So you let someone else undress you…you're a dirty girl," Shu said nonchalantly.

A gasp of surprise mixed with anger escaped my lips. I glared at him. "How _dare_ you? It wasn't like I had any say in that situation!" I seethed. "In case you forgot, I was completely _unconscious_. Secondly, I don't even care anymore. That was just my body…but my music is my heart. It's my soul. It's… _personal!_ So tell me where it is."

Shu looked at me with a blank expression, but his eyes burned blue and I could tell he was thinking about something. Then he sighed and turned away after regarding me for a few long moments. "I don't know anything about that."

I huffed in irritation. I just wanted my music. I wanted something to make my headache go away so badly, I was almost tempted to ask Shu to let me borrow his own earbuds.

My head began to pulse once again, this time more intense than ever before. It made my vision throb with black waves. I groaned, clutching my head in agony. What was _wrong_ with me? What was happening?

"Hey, are you okay?" The guy sitting next to me asked. I could barely hear him, though. All I heard was the sound of the blood rushing in my ears as the pulses became faster and more intense. I felt like my head was going to split open from pure pressure. Maybe _that_ would feel better than this. I felt like my brain was swelling and pushing against my skull.

I laid my head down, not able to take any more of this excruciating pain. Was my brain bleeding? I wouldn't be surprised if blood started leaking from my eyes, ears and nose.

"Mr. Tanaka!" The guy called out. "It's the new girl! Something's wrong with her."

"What happened?" Mr. Tanaka demanded as he rushed forward, I could hear his rapid footsteps approaching me.

"I don't know, she just fell over. She's shaking really bad."

"Shu, get her to the nurse at once!"

That was the last thing I heard before I couldn't hold onto consciousness anymore. I drowned in the rolling waves of searing pain that washed over my whole body.

* * *

So it sounds like Clary is in trouble!


	5. Secrets

Slowly, I came back around. My senses came flooding back to me as I became aware of my surroundings. I opened my eyes, and found myself staring up at a white ceiling with a crystal chandelier hanging in the center. I immediately recognized it as the ceiling of the bedroom I was staying in. I sat up, moaning softly and reaching up to clutch my head. It still ached, but not as terribly as it did at school. This was just a mild pain, like a normal headache.

 _School_.

What happened after I passed out? I gazed around the room (I refused to call it _my_ room), expecting to be alone but was not surprised when I found that I wasn't. Shu was sitting in the window seat with his eyes closed, resting against the girly pink and purple cushions.

"Shu?" I breathed.

"You're finally awake," he sighed. Why did he sound so _bored?  
_  
"How long have you been here?" I asked. An unsettling feeling of uncertainty rose in my chest as I realized I was alone in the room with a vampire. Of course, this feeling had been made quite familiar in the past day, since I was cautious at all times around these men.

Shu didn't answer me. He just sighed again, like he couldn't be bothered. "You're such a troublesome woman."

"Uhh…sorry?" I blinked at him. "What happened...? After I blacked out, I mean."

"They sent you home. Obviously, you were unfit to be in school," he replied.

"Why are you here, then?"

He opened his eyes slightly to shoot me a nonchalant look. " _Someone_ had to bring you here," he said in a tone that implied how obvious it was, and that he was now questioning my IQ because I couldn't figure that one out on my own. I mean, I could've, but that wasn't what I meant anyway. I ignored his tone to give him a little sass of my own.

"What I _meant_ ," I clarified, "was why you didn't go back to school?"

"Why would I bother going back?"

"Mr. Tanaka said you skip class a lot…aren't you worried about getting held back?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him. But he remained silent as he turned his gaze away. I wondered if I offended him or something. Maybe he just wasn't in the mood to talk?

I thought back to the events of last night, of how I was attacked in that room by the triplets. But then, just before any of them could bite me, Shu had knocked a picture frame over.

 _I wonder_ …

"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you…about last night…when you knocked that picture over. You did that on purpose, didn't you?" I looked at him. He remained silent. Maybe he didn't hear me? If he wasn't staring out the window, I would've thought he was asleep. But I doubted that he couldn't hear me, I was sure all of the vampires had sharp hearing. Shu just didn't like to talk much, I guessed.

His silence was either extreme nonchalance, or a confirmation that he didn't want to outright admit. Either way, I decided, for my own mind's sake, that it was a yes.  
"Well," I sighed. "If you _did_ do that on purpose…thank you."  
He continued to remain silent.  
I sighed, I wasn't too concerned with getting a response from him anymore, anyway.

What I was more interested in was finding some water. Maybe I was dehydrated, and that was what was causing the headache. I slipped out of the sheets and was secretly relieved to find that I was still in my school uniform, and not another nightgown. At least Shu didn't violate my privacy.  
I was about to make my way to the door and leave the room, when Shu looked over at me.

"You know, the least you could do is repay me."

"What?" I stared at him. My blood ran cold as I considered what he could be talking about.

"Let me drink your blood," he said rather bluntly; casually, like he wasn't talking about drinking my _life force_ at all.

"N-no way!" I shouted as I booked it for the door, heart pounding furiously. I flung the door open, ran through, and then sprinted as far from the room as I could go before my head began to throb in protest.

I made it one floor away from that room before I finally slowed my pace, and it was only because my head was pulsing wildly again, otherwise I would've kept running.  
Why didn't Shu chase me or try to stop me? He just sat there and let me go. Was he really _that_ lazy? I guessed that was good news for me. I aimlessly shambled about the dark hallways like a zombie. I couldn't believe how out of breath I was already. It wasn't like I was out of shape; my endurance was usually excellent.  
But my head was killing me, and my vision was blurring. Hot flashes of pain washed over me, making me feel like my blood was boiling inside my veins. I broke out into a cold sweat despite my rising body temperature. I felt as cold as ice. I shivered and held myself tightly, trying to push myself to take one more step, and then another one and another.

Eventually, I found myself standing before the door of the room from last night, the one I found Father's diary in. Without thinking, I pushed my way inside.  
A blast of cold air washed over me as I stepped into the dark and dreary room. Immediately, my headache went away, along with all of the other symptoms. I felt as healthy as I usually did. There was no trace of pain at all, not even a slight lingering headache, like it was never there. It was like stepping into the room had cured me.  
I glanced around the gloomy room, wondering what the hell was happening to me. How did I end up back _here_ , of all the places in this giant house? Why was I so drawn to this place? Why did coming here instantly make me feel better? It was like some greater force was pushing me back here.

Maybe it was God. Whatever it was, I knew I couldn't leave until I figured it out. Apparently, there was just something that I _had_ to find out.  
My gaze shifted to the broken glass of the picture frame on the floor – from when Shu had knocked it over. I reminded myself that he did that on purpose to save me. Before I could make myself doubt that, I focused my attention on the next thing; the pile of fallen books on the floor. But I had my sights set on the black book; Father's diary, left exactly where I had dropped it.

I retrieved the diary and took a seat on the floor with all the other books. I pulled out the picture of him holding Yui and I as babies and smiled sadly at it. My heart filled with grief as my eyes filled with tears. I missed Father so much. I missed my old life. My old church, my old school and my old friends.  
 _Soon_. I would come up with something to get Yui and I out of this mess. I would find a way to get us back home.

I tucked the picture safely into my blouse; since I had no pockets, and opened the diary, looking for the entry I read last night. But as I leafed through the pages, my stomach knotted as I noticed something horribly wrong; it was all _blank_.

"What?!" I gasped to myself. This _couldn't_ be happening. Where did everything go?! All of his writing just completely vanished. _How was that even possible?!_  
"God, why is this happening?" I spoke aloud as I frantically flipped through each individual page to make absolutely sure that I wasn't skipping over something. But it was all blank. Empty. Everything Father wrote was _gone_.  
And then I got to the very back of the journal. On the very last page, there was a short entry, scrawled in Father's formal handwriting. But there was something off about it; like he was in hurry.

I felt chills break out across my skin as I began to read –

 _I wish I had never taken those kids. I regret that I have formed deep emotional bonds with them. I love them like my own – but it just makes this job that much harder. It's unbearable for me to let them go. But that is what we do at the church, and that is what Karlheinz himself insisted upon. I don't know much about Yui's past…but Clary is a whole other story. It makes sense to me that Karlheinz would want Clary, considering her bloodlines are connected to the demon called Vandran.  
_  
 _I met Camille Delacroix while she was still pregnant with Clary. I had to fly out to France and then wait there until the girl was born. Camille was desperate for a person to trust, yet she could trust no one, not even me. It was clear that she was afraid of her father, Vandran, but I had no idea as to why. I can't be absolutely positive about anything that's going on, but I somehow suspect that Karlheinz and Vandran are working on something together. And whatever this big secret is, it is somehow linked to the church and to the sacrificial brides we send to the vampires.  
_  
 _Camille begged me to take Clary back to Japan with me and raise her as my own. I accepted, out of pure pity. I still have no idea what fate has come across that poor woman, but I suspect she may be dead._  
 _A year later, I was met by none other than Richter Sakamaki, who presented Yui to me and told me to take care of her – under the orders of Karlheinz. I had no choice but to oblige. Gradually, I grew to love both girls with all my heart.  
_  
 _And now I am a broken man…as today I found out that my daughters are to be the next brides. I always knew this day would come…but the church has never sent two at the same time before, and yet Karlheinz pressed for this. I always thought I would get to keep one of them. But both are to be sent away…and it has broken me twice as much._  
 _I don't know anything about what Karlheinz is planning…but I fear that Clary and Yui are in great danger. All I can do is accept the fact that this was their fate…and cherish the memories I had with them while they were still here…I must move on and forget this whole ordeal. I have a learned a very valuable lesson from all this; I can never let my emotions get in the way of my work._

My hands were shaking as I read the last of the entry. I wanted to scream and cry.  
So…I wasn't just some normal adopted kid from a normal orphanage. Apparently, I had a long and confusing history…and my biological grandfather wasn't even a human.  
Questions swirled through my head. Who was Vandran? Who was Karlheinz? Who was Richter and what was his relation to the Sakamaki brothers? And why did this Richter guy have Yui? Where did she come from? Was she related to a demon, too? And what the hell was a sacrificial bride? I remembered some of the brothers mentioning that yesterday…

 _"What? Are you telling me that these girls are the prospective brides?" Ayato gasped.  
_  
 _"Oh. Is that all this is?" Subaru sighed heavily.  
_  
 _"Let's be honest," Laito said. "They're more like sacrifices than brides, really."_

What were they talking about? What part did the church have in all this? Did they really send these… _sacrifices_ to vampires? I shook my head vigorously.

"No. I refuse to believe that!" I shouted at myself. That was probably the most unholy and treacherous thing I had ever heard! How could a _church_ , a house of God, actually have such dark and corrupt intentions?! How could my church serve the darkness while pretending to bask in the light of God? It was just so sickening and there was _no way_ it could be true.

I had been a part of that church my whole life…everyone was so nice. We weren't a cult! We were truly loyal to God and we lived by his word…right..?

 _Of course!  
_  
So then why…why would Father say these things? Why would he just accept this situation and not even try to save us? He said he loved us, didn't he? Perhaps that was the thing that broke my heart the most about all of this; he _knew_ …but he wasn't coming?

"It can't be," I breathed. "This is all wrong." Hot tears streamed down my face. I _had_ to call Father. I had to speak to him and find out for myself. There was so much I needed to ask him…

And then there were the less important questions I had. Less important than the other ones, but still significant to me. Father knew my real mother? He told Yui and I that our mother died when we were little.  
I was actually born in France? My mother's name was Camille Delacroix, so did that mean my real last name was Delacroix, too? And why was she afraid of her father – this Vandran? What happened to her? Did she really die?

I wanted to rip my hair out. Instead, I ripped the journal entry out. No way was I going to risk it disappearing on me. This could be my only clue. I had to show Yui! I folded the yellowing paper and tucked it into my shirt along with the picture. But as soon as I closed the diary, another photo slipped out of the pages and landed in my lap, face up.  
I looked down at it and froze. It was a picture of a beautiful woman with striking features. She had creamy pale skin like mine, dark brown hair that cascaded past her shoulders in gloriously wild waves like mine, and blazing green eyes that glittered like gems that resembled mine. She wore a happy smile on her ruby lips, and I just knew that this was my mother.

Her beauty was so enchanting, I found it hard to stop staring. Her shining eyes, her glistening hair, her flawless skin, it was hard to look away from. There was a certain wild and untamed element about her. Though she wore a broad grin, there was still mischief glittering in her vivid eyes. There was something rebellious about her bright red lips. And there was something reckless about her chaotic but beautiful hair. Was it the demon blood that made her look so wild yet gorgeous? No _human_ could ever be this attractive.

A small, vain part of me was secretly delighted that I took on a lot of my mother's looks. Staring at her picture was like staring at an older version of myself – only with red lips instead of my soft pink ones.  
I scolded myself and flipped the picture over. On the back, there was handwriting. But it was too girly and loopy to be Father's.

 _Camille Belrose-Delacroix – Age 21  
_  
 _Dear Clary,_  
 _There is so much I wish I could tell you, but I hope you understand that I simply cannot. There are just too many risks associated with me and I refuse to drag you into my mess. You will be safe with Seiji, far away from me. My gift to you is this picture…at least you will know my face. I sincerely wish I could be with you and raise you and watch you grow. I wish we could be a normal family. But 'normal' was just never meant to be for creatures like us. That was never our fate. I hope one day you will discover the truth. Until that day comes, I will never rest in peace in my grave.  
_  
 _All I can do is encourage you to live a happy life. I want you to follow your heart and do what makes you truly happy…do what I could never do for myself…_  
 _But beware, there might come a day where our past catches up to you. To prepare yourself for that, ask Seiji about the names Vandran and Karlheinz…he will tell you what I have told him, and then maybe you will discover the truth.  
_  
 _For your own sake, I hope you find out soon. And if you don't…then I shall expect to see you in this life soon…_

I was even more confused than before. What was she _talking_ about?! What was this big truth that both my mother and Father mentioned? Finding out about this Vandran and Karlheinz…that was going to be my number one goal. My mother said herself that if I didn't find out soon, then I would probably die…at least that's what she implied.  
I wanted to cry and cower in fear…but for some reason, something inside of me wouldn't let me. Looking at my mother's confident smile seemed to give me some courage. I tucked the picture into my shirt with the rest of the things and got to my feet.

I stood before the bookshelf and gazed at all the titles. The best place to start my search for answers would be in books, right? If I could just find anything about Vandran, or even Karlheinz, then I would have my first clue.

"Seems you're feeling better?" A voice angrily stated. I gasped and faced the door. Reiji was standing there with his arms folded. "I thought I made it clear that this room is to be forbidden."

When did they get back from school? That meant…Yui was here now too. Suddenly, I had no interest in staying here, I wanted to see Yui and tell her everything I discovered. But I had to deal with Reiji first.

"Honestly, I came here by mistake," I explained.

"You came in here and started nosing around by _mistake?"_ Reiji challenged.

"Er…well, my head was still hurting…and I was wandering around…next thing I know, I'm standing in here…and then my head felt better."

He stared at me. I wondered if he believed me or not. It wasn't like I was lying, but I _did_ sound a little crazy.

"So what were you searching for?" He asked, stepping farther into the room. Immediately, my anxiety rose and I took a step back.

"My father's diary," I said quickly. "And I found it." I swiped it off the floor. "So I got what I wanted. I'll be going now. I won't come in here again." I darted around Reiji before he could react and booked it back down the halls, clutching the small journal to my chest tightly as I raced back to my room, hoping to God that Shu still wouldn't be there.

I was almost there when I ran into someone. I collided into his chest with the full force of my velocity. But the person I had ran into was as sturdy as a wall while I was knocked back. I held my injured nose as I looked up to see the butler, of all people, standing there. I was relieved it wasn't one of the brothers, yet worried I might've hurt the old man.

"I'm so sorry!" I gasped. "Are you okay?!"

He simply chuckled. "It's no problem at all, young lady," he assured. "Though…how come you're running through the mansion as if you're being chased?"

I blinked at him. Did I really not hurt him? Did he have super strength or something, or…realization hit me like a train, and I felt the air escape from my lungs. This old butler was probably a vampire too.

I quickly backed away from him. "I-I'm actually in a big hurry, so..."

"I understand. Perhaps it is a good thing we ran into each other like this. I can now properly inform you that I have washed your clothes from last night and just finished returning them to your room."

"Y-you did?" I stared at him. "Thank you."

"It is my duty," he bowed.

"Wait. I was carrying an iPod in the back pocket of my jeans – did you see it? It's a small electronic…It's blue..?"

The butler frowned at me. "I'm sorry, but I saw no such device. If I had, I would've returned it to your room at once. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an old grandfather clock to fix in the north wing. It's been quite noisy lately, and it's driving Mr. Subaru crazy." He bowed again and started off. This time, I didn't stop him. Instead, I hurried back to my room, feeling disappointed that not even the butler had seen my iPod.

Seriously, where the hell was it?

* * *

Hi guys! So I gave you a glimpse into Clary's past..what do you think? Her story is a lot longer than what you read in those letters, but that will all be revealed in time ;)


	6. Late Night Dips

I was relieved to find that Shu wasn't in my room. The only sign that he was ever in here were the disorganized cushions on the window seat, where he had sat.  
The butler wasn't lying. On the bed sat my clothes, neatly folded and stacked. I ignored those clothes and grabbed my suitcase. I needed to change into something other than this damn school uniform – something new.

I tossed my luggage onto the mattress and rummaged through my clothes. I grabbed a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and a loose, pretty blue sweater to change into. It was one of my favorite tops.  
I safely stored the photos and the journal page in the suitcase and changed into the fresh clothes as quickly as I could.

I had gotten my jeans on, and was halfway through unbuttoning the uniform's blouse when I heard a faint scream coming from somewhere in the house. I knew it was Yui right away. I forgot about the shirt and rushed out of the room to find her.

I sprinted past numerous rooms and halls, but each one was empty. Where was everyone? And where was Yui? Horrible scenarios started to play through my mind, coming up with reasons for everyone's absence; things like every vampire ganging up on Yui, trapping her in some corner in a room and...  
The thoughts made me run harder.

Suddenly, in the indoor pool room, I found Ayato carrying Yui the way a groom would carry his bride. But there was nothing romantic about the gesture, as Ayato stood at the edge of the water. Panic flared through me. This may not have been as terrifying as what I was thinking on my way here, but this was still pretty terrifying itself. Was he going to do what I thought?

"Your life is completely at the mercy of Yours Truly," he was saying. That didn't sound good at all. I had to stop this before it got out of hand.

"Ayato!" I shouted. For a moment, he didn't move. And I anxiously stared at the back of his head with wide eyes, wondering what the hell was going through his mind.

"Clary!" Yui cried as she struggled to get free, her skinny legs flailing in the air. Ayato barely noticed her efforts to get free. He ignored Yui and finally turned to look at me, wearing a look of irritation.

"What do you think you're _doing!?_ " I demanded, before he could say anything first.

"I'm proving to the Pancake that I can do whatever I want with her," he said and swung his torso, as if to throw her in. My heart froze.  
And a sudden, adrenaline-induced scream ripped from my lungs. And it was so powerful, it reverberated off the walls and bounced off the ceiling. It took me a second to realize I had shouted: _"No."  
_  
Ayato recoiled, as if I had assaulted his ears. " _Tch!_ Shut up, will you?! You'll blow my eardrums out!"

I couldn't care less. "Don't do it," I pleaded. "She can't swim!"

"All the more reason to do it, don't you agree, Kanato?" Laito's voice mused. The two of them were suddenly standing across the pool from Ayato and I.

"It would bring me great pleasure to watch her drown." Kanato grinned, clutching his bear excitedly, his purple eyes were wide with genuine thrill. _Sicko_.

"What is the meaning of all this commotion?" Reiji demanded angrily as he suddenly appeared at the right end of the pool.

" _Seriously_. This house has been so loud ever since these two got here," Subaru scoffed as he appeared beside Reiji. "You shook the damn walls with that banshee scream of yours." He glared at me with narrow red eyes from behind his white hair.

I glanced around at each vampire as they circled the pool. Shu was suddenly there too, with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, standing alone at the opposite end, across from Reiji and Subaru.

I gritted my teeth. Guess they all came to watch the show.  
 _Welcome to tonight's entertainment, everyone! This evening we'll be featuring a helpless drowning girl! Watch as her older sister desperately tries to play hero! What will happen? Who knows! It will be quite amusing to find out!_  
Rage boiled in my veins. I was physically shaking with it, along with a terrible anxiety.  
"Let go of her," I demanded.

"Clary," Yui gasped. "You-"

"Shut up!" Ayato shouted. "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? You're out of line, Pet."

I glared at him and clenched my jaw so tightly, I was afraid my teeth would break, but it was all I could do to keep myself from protesting even further. Maybe, just _maybe_ if I cooperated with him, he would spare Yui.

He smirked.  
"Good, you're learning. Here, I'll reward your good behavior and give you what you asked for. I'll put the Pancake down."

Before I could even react, Ayato tossed her into the pool. Yui screamed but quickly sank like an anchor the moment she entered the water. I could only stare in bewilderment as the cold, invisible hands of fear clutched me tightly; made me freeze up; made it hard for me to breathe.

"You should see the stupid look on your face!" Ayato laughed at me. "Pathetic."

Bubbles floated to the top of the water, in the spot where Yui sank. Seeing those air bubbles triggered something in me. Made me snap into action.  
I was finally able to get a grip on myself. I ignored the taunting triplets and tore away from the invisible hands. I ran to the water and dove right in.

The water was frigid. But it was well-lit so I could see. I could clearly make out Yui's blonde locks flowing freely in the water, completely defying gravity. The pool was deep, so she was still sinking. Her eyes were closed. She had already lost consciousness.  
I kicked hard and propelled myself farther into the water, pushing air out of my nose so that I could dive deeper. Already, my chest was starting to ache. When I neared Yui, I reached out and grabbed her by the back of her shirt's collar. By then, we were already at the bottom of the pool. So I kicked off the floor and swam straight upwards. She was light in the water, but still, her unconscious weight slowed our pace.

Just as my chest felt like it was about to burst, I surfaced. The moment I did, I loudly sucked in greedy gulps of sweet air. I had to have been under there for a good minute, the pool was deeper than it looked. I pulled Yui up so that her head was above water and then began to swim towards the closest end of the pool, which was towards Shu – who just stood there and watched like the rest of his brothers.  
 _What did you expect? Him to jump in and help you? Yeah right.  
_  
By the time I reached the end, I was drained of energy. I used my remaining strength to haul myself and Yui out of the water.  
Ignoring the fact that I was dripping water everywhere and shivering uncontrollably, I hovered over Yui and pressed two fingers to her throat, checking for a pulse.

"There's no need for that," Shu said lazily. "She's still alive."

"I'll see for myself," I snapped, angry that he had just _stood_ there and did nothing. I returned my concentration to Yui. Sure enough, her heart was still beating, I could feel it through my cold fingertips. But it was very faint – dangerously so. And her breaths were shallow.

"She's alive," I breathed. "Just barely." _Just barely_. That was what Shu didn't mention.

Since she was breathing on her own by some miracle, CPR wouldn't be necessary – and I was grateful for that, since I had no idea how to properly do it. So, I rolled Yui onto her side and let her cough up the water on her own. I finally allowed myself to collapse, laying on my back beside her as I caught my own breath. My skin prickled with chills as I continued to shiver.

Slow clapping echoed throughout the room. I propped myself up on my elbows in time to see Ayato approach, wearing a smirk.  
"Nice save, Pet. You may have been able to save your sister, but you couldn't save your dignity," he laughed as his eyes raked my torso. Confused, I glanced down at myself. My white blouse had been completely soaked through, becoming transparent. The half-unbuttoned job flashed my bra. Why did I have to wear a black one today?

"The view is rather nice though, isn't it?" Laito grinned, his green eyes flashing with excitement as he eyed my chest.

I sat up and threw both him and Ayato the most venomous glare I could muster. I wanted to pop Ayato in the face so badly. Or at least shove him into the icy water. And I wanted to rake my nails down Laito's face and claw his hungry eyes out. But I didn't want it to backfire. So I could only glare daggers.

Laito whistled. "If looks could kill, I'm afraid we'd be dead, Ayato," he chuckled.

"Perhaps," Ayato agreed. "Come on now, you didn't really think that I'd let the Pancake drown, did you?"

"I have no idea _what_ goes on inside that twisted head of yours!" I exploded, my blood boiling with an anger that warmed me up. "She was unconscious by the time I got to her! Her heart was barely beating just now. A minute or two longer down there and she really _would've_ drowned!"

I ignored his angered expression, too angry myself to care, and returned my attention to Yui. Her face – a face that was too sweet and innocent for the sadistic horrors of these men – was twisted with pain. Her lips were a pale blue, but they were slowly returning to their normal color.

"Clary," she whimpered. "My chest hurts."

"It's all that water you inhaled," I frowned at her. "But you're going to be okay now. Come on, let's get you up."

I helped her to her feet. Without another word, I started back into the house with her, hoping that the vampires were done pestering us for the day and would let us go.  
And it looked like they were going to. None of the brothers said a word or moved a muscle as they watched us leave, they were like a bunch of marble statues. I thought that was rather unusual of them. It was moments like these that I wished I could read minds. I would just love to know what they were thinking.

* * *

Only when I reached my room without an interruption did I release a sigh of relief. I pushed my way into the room, pulling Yui in with me. I locked the door behind us, though I had a feeling that a mere lock wouldn't do anything to keep a vampire out. But it still made me feel safer – it was more of a psychological thing.  
I went into the bathroom and emerged a second later with two body towels. I wrapped myself in one and handed the other to Yui. She was just as cold and wet and scared as I was. In that moment, I changed my mind.  
I had planned to tell Yui everything I discovered, but after seeing how distressed and shocked she already was, I decided that I wouldn't. At least, not yet.

"Are you okay?" I frowned at her, referring back to the pool incident. She nodded, putting on a brave face for my own sake. It just made my heart swell with sympathy.

"What about you? Are you feeling better?" she asked as she draped the towel over her shoulders. "Reiji said you fainted in class today. Shu had to take you home."

" _Home?_ " I looked at her. "Yui, this place is a lot of things, but it certainly isn't our home."

She blinked as if she hadn't realized what she said. She sheepishly laughed a little. "That's right. Our home is back at the church, with Father."

A pang of guilt stabbed at me. I almost told her right then and there that I wasn't too sure about the church being our home either. In fact, I wasn't sure Yui and I _had_ a home anymore. We just had a place to stay, but it was like being trapped in a nightmare. This mansion wasn't our home. It was our prison.

"But you're feeling better now, right?" Yui asked again.

"Yeah. I just had a weird headache," I sighed heavily. "I'll tell you more about it later. I don't feel like talking about it right now." I looked at her. "Let's talk about you, instead. How did school go?"

Yui immediately frowned. She bit her lip and averted her gaze. I stared at her, dreading what she was going to say, because I feared I already knew what it was.  
"Not so good…A-Ayato…bit me."

Even though I was half-expecting that, her words were still jarring. I took her by the shoulders, but tried to stay calm so I wouldn't scare her. "Where? Show me." The frantic note in my voice was unmistakable despite my efforts to suppress it.  
Slowly, Yui pulled her shirt down to show me two small but deep holes in her neck, just above her collarbone – which was why I didn't see it when I was checking her pulse earlier.

I couldn't help but gasp in horror. It made me want to throw up just looking at it. The skin around each hole was raised and still red with irritation. It looked like two small volcanoes. I could just imagine her blood oozing out of the holes like lava. There was a dark blue vein just beneath the surface of her skin that the bitemarks sat right on top of. That vein had never been visible before.

It sickened me to my stomach. To be honest, a very small part of me didn't believe them…I thought they might have just been messing around with us about being vampires…but now there was no doubt in my mind. _This_ was the horror that they were capable of. I could clearly see the _inside_ of Yui's neck through those gaping holes. It was terrifying and disgusting. It made me want to tie a scarf around my neck and never take it off.

"Oh my god," I breathed as I pulled away, feeling faint. I couldn't look at it anymore. She stared at me with wide eyes.

"Does it look that bad?"

"I-I think you need a bandaid." I said, trying not to hurt her feelings. But really, maybe a bandaid wasn't a bad idea. At least it would cover the wound. "There might be some in my luggage, hold on."  
I crossed over to the bed where I had left my suitcase and fished around until I finally found one. I sat her down on the mattress and put the bandaid on for her.  
"Just be sure to keep it clean and covered until it heals," I frowned at her. "It could get infected if you don't because it's so deep."

"Clary," Yui whimpered. "I _hate_ this place." There were tears streaming down her cheeks now. I sat down beside her and wrapped her tightly in my arms as she cried into my shoulder.

I hated it too. I hated the house and I hated the people that lived in it. And I hated what it was doing to Yui. We had only been here for two days. I wasn't sure how much more either of us could take. And I hadn't even been bitten. _Yet_.

But I sure as hell didn't want to wait around for that to happen. I needed answers to my questions. And then I needed to get us out of here.  
Yui had stopped crying, but she was still leaning into me. I was starting to feel drowsy. It had been a long and exhausting day, after all. I wanted nothing more than to sleep. But I didn't want Yui to go. I didn't want her to be alone. And I didn't want to be alone either.

So that night, we slept in my room.

* * *

Hi :) I know that this scene was supposed to be a moment that Yui and Ayato shared, but I couldnt help myself, Clary just had to bud in X'D (just protective older sister things)

Anyway, I actually did this for a reason. Even though I stick to the show a lot in this fic, I also want to stay true to the manga, and they're kinda different from each other. I felt that some things in the manga definitely shouldve been in the show but I understand that they can't fit everything into the anime. But in the manga, whenever something interesting is going on in the house, all the brothers will usually gather around to see it. That's why I had them all show up to this pool thing. I also wanted to give Clary a chance to show that even though she's scared, she will fight through it and be brave just long enough to pull through her situation. And I wanted the Sakamaki brothers to be able to see that in her (hence that awkward silence as she was leaving) I wanted them to have a moment of realization that mortals can be strong too, not physcially strong like a vampire, but mentally resilient, you know?

Okay, that was just my little comment on this. Now I want to hear YOUR thoughts! :)


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